Artsy Kitchen

Before introducing The Home Makers—one of the first modular kitchen brands in India in 1998, Neeti Macker travelled all across the world. With 18 years of industry experience, she has now become a domain expert. After researching and visiting corporate offices of international brands for a year and a half, Macker launched Kits for Homes — an online portal for modular kitchens, wardrobes and other components.

Although a natural progression, Macker is clear that her new venture will not be an upgraded version of her existing retail business with a fancy website. The USP of Kits for Homes, which was launched in January 2017, is that they are aiming for almost zero human interaction — no home visits for measurements and no need for customers visiting their retail stores. Apart from offering complete units, Kits for Homes also offers easy kitchen fitments from European and American brands like Kessebohmer, Blum, Hettich, Hafele, and Kitchen Aid among others. The portal provides its customers with an opportunity to create or design their kitchens by picking and dropping components to a layout, whilst making it a visual experience. “Most of the times, clients will not open up to the interior designer regarding things like their budget. But here, they get to do it in their own personal space, where they are comfortable,” notes Macker.

The customer also has the option of changing colour of the wall, shutter, and material of the cabinet and each time he or she would get a corresponding cost for the same, while the team checks for the technical correctness of the fittings. For those who want designs created for them, a design form is available wherein they can upload pictures as well. Macker believes that they have the buying power as well as awareness, but the non-availability of foreign brands in the market gives them the opportunity to address the gap. She points out that the portal is not a marketplace and the revenue comes from the sale of components and kits that are available in flat pack form.

Currently, the company has three to four teams of installers, including one senior technician and two helpers. “The customers can choose designs, kits and components from the portal and we have our own team to fix it for them,” explains Macker. While they compete with online furniture start-ups like ModSpace and HomeLane, Kits for Homes is the only portal that allows customers to design their own kitchen.

For now, the startup is aiming at tier I and tier II cities and is planning to launch an app soon. After having invested around Rs.1.5 to 2 crore into the venture, Macker expects the startup to clock a revenue of around Rs.40-50 lakh by December 2017.